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I was exceedingly glad I rested hard the last 4 days. I had a lackluster start, but from then on it was fast.

100 free, 58.4, Zones Record

This was a mediocre swim. I wasn't jazzed up to really really crank it with a relay soon after. I had a great start (9 SDKs) and took it out very conservatively given my concern with my 100 conditioning (28.0). Unfortunately, I only got a toe on my second wall, which stopped me dead in the water. Mollie said she say me stop dead/look splayed and wondered what happened as she zoomed by. This mistake demotivated me for my second 50, though I finished in 30.3. That botched turn cost me a good second, I'm sure. Definitely slower than my SCM 100 free from Dec. I've been frequently flipping too far from the wall in practice and I think this carried over to the meet. I've also never had fantastic flip turns since I race free infrequently. This is an item I really need to focus on. Mollie did point out to me that this time was a Zones Record, which did make me feel better.

Mixed 200 medley relay, 50 back lead off, 27.29

Our medley relay won overall with a 1:42. Our flyer went 22.0. Teen Fort split a 30 in evil and was happy. I was super pleased with my 27.29 leadoff, which is only .03 off my NR. I had a very good start. My only flaws were a bobble in my streamline on the second 25 and I was a bit too shallow (Yes, I hyper-analyze all technique aspects of my races.) I took fewer kicks on the second 25 since I was perilously close to a DQ on the second length at the Albatross meet. I did put in a split request on this swim in case anything goes awry at Nats.

50 fly, 25.90, NR

I had almost a 2.5 hour break until this event and two cups of java. I didn't even bother to get back in the pool to re-warm up. I knew it would be a tight race with Fall, Susan and Margaret (who all went sub 27). Fall and Susan didn't have a ton of rest after their 100 back. I was excited to swim, felt energized and just had a great feeling about the race before I swam. I wanted to win; I was dialed in. When I set the NR last spring of 26.3, I wondered if I would ever go faster. But I only took 7-8 SDKs off the wall at Greensboro. At the Albatross meet in March (where I re-set my SCM WR), I opted for 10-11 SDKs off the second wall and I did the same here. That is definitely faster for me, and I'll stick with that. I also hit my walls absolutely perfectly -- so very rare. But I was still shocked when I looked at the timing board. Just over the moon about this swim. It is actually faster than the 45-49 record done in a tech suit. This swim will be hard to ever replicate. I was a little surprised to go so fast in my third swim of the day. But I was rested and I always swim faster in the afternoon, which is when I work out.

Womens 200 free relay, 24.86 leadoff, PR/NR

Our free relay won too! I was very surprised by my time (put in a split request) because I was feeling tired. 4 events is pretty rare for me. I've been working on taking more SDKs on free too. I took 9-10 off the start; in the past I've done 4-5. My old PR in this event is from 2009 with a tech suit. I've beaten every other 50 tech suit time, but not this one. Adding SDKs was the ticket! I was almost startled when the wall came up so quickly. I will say that I took a good long look at the wall this time. Still felt like my flip turn was subpar. This is under the NR on the books of 24.91, but I saw a spanking new 50 year old swam a 24.80 in a Colorado meet. So I will need to go faster at Nationals. I really wish it wasn't the last event of a 3 day meet.

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Thrilled with my day! And pretty pleased that my speed held up so well over 4 events. Feeling very tired now and am clad in compression gear. The couch beckons.

Haven't had the time to blog this last week, so I've just been entering my workouts into the FLOG and got to thinking I should go ahead and put Monday thru Saturday workouts in a single blog entry... that way I can take a look at a whole week at once, maybe see what folks think of this workout schedule. I wish I could say I was more intentional this week, but there were several days when I got to the pool and still had no idea what I was going to do. I did try to keep the hard day-easy day alternation and do have a sense for when I "need" to do 200s or 100s or 50s.

*only in the last set did the 100s fall consistently over 1:30-1:31; the last four were in the 1:33 range. The first set was all under 1:30; the second set was right at 1:30-1:31, with a few falling in the 1:27-1:29 range.

The whole week was kind of a mess now that I look back on it, but I'm encouraged by today's sets of 12 x 100 on 1:45; times are coming in a lot faster the what they were a few months ago for similar workouts; and back then I was doing 100 or 200 IMs between sets, not 400 IMs.

This morning I swam at Riverbank with a friend. The kids team wasnít there, and it was remarkably uncrowded for abou the first 45 minutes of the session. (Then word must have gotten out). Hereís what I did:

1000 warmup (400s, 200k, 200p, 200 IM d/s)

200 pull with paddles, build

5 x 300:Odds FR pull with paddlesEvens ST/FR by 50s, with ST IM order
[On the 4th one I tried doing 20 sprint / 30 easy on the stroke parkómust have pushed a little too hard, had to get out and do my emergency inhaler.]

200 warmdown + play

Tomorrow Iím going to a local meetóthe Commissionerís Trophy Relay meet, which is a free annual event run by the NYC Parks department. It was the first local masters meet I attended when I moved to the city, so I have a soft spot for it and am glad I can attend this year. Back then, in 1994, it was held at Riverbank, which is only 4 ft deepóI canít believe we were allowed to do dives off blocks into that depth, but we were, and did. Now the meet is held at the lovely Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center, which was built for NYCís 2012 Olympics bid, and is where I go for diving practice.

When I signed several weeks ago, I chose to all four 50s, and Iím so very glad now I did. Then I was thinking sprints because I was excited about developing more strength and power with my lifting and diving, but now after being on a reduced workout schedule for a while Iím just happy I wonít have to swim more than two lengths at a time. Itís been a while since my last meet (since Iceland last May), and I was realizing as I was packing my bag for tomorrow just how out of practice I am at the whole getting-ready-for-a-meet thing. (Itís still far easier than preparing feeds for a multi-hour swim though!)

We had a large crowd (for us) this morning. I am feeling better in the water which is good. What little bit of fly endurance I had before my little break from the pool is slowly coming back. This short stroke w/o was exactly what I needed.

Only time for a short swim tonight. I had to attend my daughter's "Math is Cool" competition. All the 4th grades from the various elementary school in central Washington were there for the competition. They did various individual and team testing first, then I came later and watched the "college bowl" games being played. They were paired up against 3 other schools in our room, and each went against the other schools in a battle of sorts. Needless to say...our school was there...may not have answered many questions ahead of the other teams buzzing in...but they were there, and had fun.
Some of the questions were EZ (remember, these are 4th graders), but other questions were like "HUH????" and made me think of the gameshow "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" w/ Jeff Foxworthy. I'm glad my daughter had fun tonight.

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Quick swim, there were very few kids there tonight with the meet going on this weekend in Spokane. I was able to get my own lane, and also able to just blaze my way through my own workout before I had to get out...

Swim meet coming up on Sunday, USAS with the kids. Hopefully I'll keep up with them. Lots of fast ones there this year which is great! I doubt I'll make the podium for the distance pentathlon this time.
400 IM, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 Free